Bethany Shriever cemented her place among BMX racing’s greats as she claimed a record-breaking fourth elite UCI BMX Racing World Championship title in Brisbane.
The Team GB star became the first rider in history to win four elite world crowns after delivering the fastest performance of the competition before extreme weather brought racing to an early conclusion.
Shriever entered the championships aiming to make history and immediately showed why she was the rider to beat, producing a dominant opening round before recording the quickest lap time across the completed racing.
With strong winds forcing organisers to cancel the final day of competition, the UCI confirmed results based on the last completed round – leaving Shriever at the top of the standings and wearing the rainbow jersey once again.
Reflecting on an unusual route to victory, Shriever admitted the circumstances were not how she had imagined securing another world title.
“I've dreamed about doing this, but obviously not in this way,” said Shriever.
The Olympic champion praised the efforts of her rivals and acknowledged the disappointment of not being able to complete the final day of racing, but felt her performance had earned her place at the top.
“I laid down a solid lap [in the first round], so everything happens for a reason,” she continued.
“I couldn't believe how quick [the lap during the first round was] so, yeah, we'll take it. I'm still happy, obviously we wanted to do it properly but we can't control the weather and it was too dangerous out there.”
Shriever also celebrated a landmark moment for British BMX, with teammate Freia Challis claiming the junior women’s world title to give Great Britain double success across categories.
She added: "It's just insane. We've got Freia who won the junior title too and I think this is the first time we've had GB on top in two categories, so yeah, unreal."
The victory adds another chapter to Shriever’s remarkable career, which already includes Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020, two European titles and now a historic fourth world title – defending the crown she won last year in the process.
Great Britain also enjoyed further success in Brisbane, with Ross Cullen claiming silver in the elite men’s event for his first senior World Championship medal, while the wider GB squad continued its strong record on the international stage.
Sportsbeat 2026